Some interesting details have emerged in the aftermath of Bellator’s decision to cancel their pay-per view next weekend and instead air it for free on Spike TV after an injury to headliner, Tito Ortiz.
For instance, Ortiz’s opponent, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has said that he was eager for the PPV to go ahead as planned, regardless of the opponent.
“Throw somebody else in there like Kimbo Slice, Houston Alexander, anybody in Bellator,” Jackson said in an interview with the InsideMMA show on AXS TV. “I don’t know what’s going on. People keep talking about all these different guys, Tyrone Spong — I don’t know his name. Throw anybody in there. I don’t care, I’m ready. I’ll [fight] anybody. Get Chuck Liddell out of retirement. Put the pay-per-view on.”
Spong had indicated that he was will to take the fight, attempting to drum up interest on Twitter, though World Series Of Fighting boss Ray Sefo indicated he wouldn’t allow his fighter to compete.
One name ‘Rampage’ didn’t mention was Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal who was also scheduled to fight on the main card, but it turns out the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion did offer to step up to save the PPV.
“I told ‘em I’d fight Quinton, too,” Lawal told MMAfighting.com, adding, “I think this whole thing is weird.”
Meanwhile, some have questioned the validity of claims that Ortiz has a fractured neck. It’s been reported that Ortiz hurt his neck on October 19th, yet FightHubTV posted a video of the former UFC star training for the fight just a day ago.
Ortiz had also been continuing to promote the fight on interviews as recently as yesterday.
“I tried everything to fight,” Ortiz wrote on Twitter after news of his injury call-off emerged. “My doc and Bjorn made the final decision.I will heal and will be back.Thank you for the support.
